VENTURE CAPITAL POST

The rise of oil prices had brought positive growth to most of the Asian markets, except for Japan. On the other hand, European market had seen a drop. The oil prices increased overnight due to speculations that U.S Federal Reserve would possibly decide not to increase interest rates throughout 2016.

VirnetX has been in the limelight for its achievement in realizing $223 million from Microsoft in out of court settlements. Now the patent litigation company has won a court verdict that instructs Apple to pay $625.6 million for patent infringement issues. VirnetX has claimed for $532 million initially, but Apple’s deliberate infringement over the patented products has reportedly increased the amount.

The case had been investigated since 2013, and the practices are believed to have been going on since 2011. U.S federal regulators claimed that African-American, as well as Asian/Pacific Islander borrowers, were charged more for auto loans. Toyota voluntarily agreed to pay the amount of compensation, but the company refuses to admit that the practice is a form of racial discrimination.

The US federal contracts are somehow still not won by the women-owned small companies in this day and age. Senator Jeanne Shaheen has openly expressed her disappointment regarding this sobering fact. But she is still optimistic that the changing laws would rectify the situation and empower women with the experience to bid for larger and more competitive federal contracts in the future.

The lawsuit is cast out by more than 40 customers, led by Chris Howe. The lawsuit stated that McDonald's aired unfair advertisements with the claim that its new menu item contains 100 percent pure mozzarella cheese, while according to Howe they contain filler. The lawsuit tests support the claim, but McDonald's has refuted the claim.

The supplier's subsidiary units in China was convicted for selling substandard and expired meats to restaurants including McDonald's and KFC. However, the company argued that the verdict was unjust and inconsistent with the evidence presented in court.

The Singapore's authority announced that it has seized a large number of bank accounts in a probe into alleged misappropriations related to 1MDB. Details regarding the bank accounts will be shared with investigators from Switzerland, United States and Malaysia.

US Dollar has been witnessed to gain some value against yen in both Tokyo and Japan on Monday. The appreciation of dollar has taken place due to BoJ’s surprise move for slashing the interest rate to (-) 0.1%. Even BoJ Governor has hinted further rate slashing events, if situation demands. But economists have referred the attempt as an attraction drawing stance aiming to prevent yen from rising to boost up the sluggish economic growth.

21 people were arrested by the Chinese police on account of a huge online financial scam. The P2P online lender Ezubao had almost pulled off the biggest scam in wealth management product industry, with almost 900,000 investors losing around $7.6 billion (50 billion yuan).

Lesser light falls on the small smart-phone image censor and thus the image quality appears better in larger cameras. But smart-phone industry is in the trend for getting slimmer. Apple has recently been awarded with a patent that is capable of providing better image quality through small, spherical curved lenses. The patented imaging gears are suitable for iPhones and iPads.

Facebook users will soon be prohibited from coordinating private firearm sales using its platform and also through Instagram. The step evokes strict policies on regulating promotional posts on unlicensed gun businesses . The new rule is only applicable for person-to-person firearm sales, licensed gun dealers will be permitted to use the social network.

South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has announced increasing key interest rates by fifty basis points to 6.75% on Thursday. It has also slashed down growth forecast to 0.9%. SARB has increased the interest rates for the second time with an interval of weeks. However, the rate hike will influence the Banks’ expenses and banking industry may witness job cutting as cost minimization effort.

WHO on Thursday has warned for probable spread of Zika virus across the North and Central American countries. Ahead of rising concerns for Zika spreading, drug makers and scientists have commented that manufacturing of an appropriate vaccine may even require a decade. These warnings has opened a huge business potential for Oxitec, an Intrexon subsidiary. Oxitec’s gene modified mosquitoes are capable of ensuring security against Zika for large populations.

The MTA has banned hoverboards from the New York City transit system for safety reasons. According to the latest rules, riders will not be allowed to bring the two-wheeled motorized devices on buses, subway platforms and trains

Malaysia has trimmed its growth forecast mainly due to plunging oil prices. A miscalculated assumption has messed up the 2016 budget, which has the government groping for damage-control measures. One of the key outcomes were increasing the household spending of the country, which can give the sluggish economy a much-needed boost.